Bucharest is the capital city, industrial and
commercial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in
Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at
44°26′N 26°06′E﻿ / ﻿44.433°N 26.1°E﻿ / 44.433; 26.1, and
lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River.

Bucharest was first mentioned in documents as early as
1459. Since then it has gone through a variety of
changes, becoming the state capital of Romania in 1862
and steadily consolidating its position as the centre of
the Romanian mass media, culture and arts. Its eclectic
architecture is a mix of historical, interbellum,
Communist-era and modern. In the period between the two
World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the
sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the
nickname of the "Little Paris of the East" (Micul
Paris).[2] Although many buildings and districts in the
historic centre were damaged or destroyed by war,
earthquakes and Nicolae Ceauşescu's program of
systematization, many survived. In recent years, the
city has been experiencing an economic and cultural
boom.[3]

According to January 2006 official estimates, Bucharest
proper has a population of 1,930,390.[4] The urban area
extends beyond the limits of Bucharest proper and has a
population of 2.1 million people.[5] Adding the
satellite towns around the urban area, the metropolitan
area of Bucharest has a population of 2.6 million
people.[5] Bucharest is the 6th largest city in the
European Union by population within city limits.[4]

Economically, the city is the most prosperous in
Romania[6] and is one of the main industrial centres and
transportation hubs of Eastern Europe. As the most
developed city in Romania, Bucharest also has a broad
range of educational facilities.

The city proper is administratively known as the
Municipality of Bucharest (Municipiul Bucureşti), and
has the same administrative level as a county, being
further subdivided into six sectors.

EtymologyTradition connects the founding of Bucharest with
the name of Bucur who was either a prince, an outlaw, a
fisherman, a shepherd, or a hunter according to
different legends. The name of Bucur has an uncertain
origin.In Albanian, a language which has historical
connections with the Thracian languages, 'bukur'
signifies 'beautiful', in Romanian the word stem bucur
means 'glad', 'joy'.
The official city name in full is The Municipality of
Bucharest (Romanian: Municipiul Bucureşti).
A native or resident of Bucharest is called Bucharester
(Romanian: Bucureştean).

HistoryBucharest's history alternated periods of
development and decline from the early settlements of
the Antiquity and until its consolidation as capital of
Romania late in the 19th century.

First mentioned as "the Citadel of Bucureşti" in 1459,
it became a residence of the Wallachian prince Vlad III
the Impaler. The Old Princely Court (Curtea Veche) was
built by Mircea Ciobanul, and during following rules,
Bucharest was established as the summer residence of the
court, competing with Târgovişte for the status of
capital after an increase in the importance of southern
Muntenia brought about by the demands of the suzerain
power, the Ottoman Empire.

Burned down by the Ottomans and briefly discarded by
princes at the start of the 17th century, Bucharest was
restored and continued to grow in size and prosperity.
Its centre was around the street "Uliţa Mare", which
starting 1589 was known as Lipscani. Before the 1700s,
it became the most important trade centre of Wallachia
and became a permanent location for the Wallachian court
after 1698 (starting with the reign of Constantin
Brâncoveanu).

Partly destroyed by natural disasters and rebuilt
several times during the following 200 years, hit by
Caragea's plague in 1813-1814, the city was wrested from
Ottoman control and occupied at several intervals by the
Habsburg Monarchy (1716, 1737, 1789) and Imperial Russia
(three times between 1768 and 1806). It was placed under
Russian administration between 1828 and the Crimean War,
with an interlude during the Bucharest-centered 1848
Wallachian revolution, and an Austrian garrison took
possession after the Russian departure (remaining in the
city until March 1857). Additionally, on March 23, 1847,
a fire consumed about 2,000 buildings of Bucharest,
destroying a third of the city. The social divide
between rich and poor was described at the time by
Ferdinand Lassalle as making the city "a savage
hotchpotch".

Back view of the CEC Palace and the royal guardIn 1861,
when Wallachia and Moldavia were united to form the
Principality of Romania, Bucharest became the new
nation's capital; in 1881, it became the political
center of the newly-proclaimed Kingdom of Romania.
During the second half of the 19th century, due to its
new status, the city's population increased
dramatically, and a new period of urban development
began. The extravagant architecture and cosmopolitan
high culture of this period won Bucharest the nickname
of "The Paris of the East" (or "Little Paris", Micul
Paris), with Calea Victoriei as its Champs-Élysées or
Fifth Avenue.

Between December 6, 1916 and November 1918, it was
occupied by German forces, the legitimate capital being
moved to Iaşi. After World War I, Bucharest became the
capital of Greater Romania. In January 1941 it was the
place of Legionnaires' rebellion and Bucharest pogrom.
As the capital of an Axis country, Bucharest suffered
heavy losses during World War II, due to Allied
bombings, and, on August 23, 1944, saw the the royal
coup which brought Romania into the anti-German camp,
suffering a short but destructive period of Luftwaffe
bombings in reprisal.

During Nicolae Ceauşescu's leadership (1965-1989), most
of the historic part of the city was destroyed and
replaced with Communist-style buildings, particularly
high-rise apartment blocks. The best example of this is
the development called Centrul Civic (the Civic Centre),
including the Palace of the Parliament, where an entire
historic quarter was razed to make way for Ceauşescu's
megalomaniac constructions. In 1977, a strong 7.4 on the
Richter-scale earthquake claimed 1,500 lives and
destroyed many old buildings. Nevertheless, some
historic neighbourhoods did survive to this day.

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 began with mass anti-Ceauşescu
protests in Timişoara in December 1989 and continued in
Bucharest, leading to the overthrow of the Communist
regime. Dissatisfied with the post-revolutionary
leadership of the National Salvation Front, student
leagues and opposition groups organized large-scale
protests continued in 1990 (the Golaniad), which were
violently stopped by the miners of Valea Jiului (the
Mineriad). Several other Mineriads followed, the results
of which included a government change.

After the year 2000, due to the advent of Romania's
economic boom, the city has modernised and is currently
undergoing a period of urban renewal. Various
residential and commercial developments are underway,
particularly in the northern districts, while
Bucharest's historic centre is currently undergoing
restoration.

Treaties signed in Bucharest
Treaty of May 28, 1812, at the end of the Russo-Turkish
War
Treaty of March 3, 1886, at the end of the Serbo-Bulgarian
War
Treaty of August 10, 1913, at the end of the Second
Balkan War
Treaty of August 4, 1916, the treaty of alliance between
Romania and the Entente
Treaty of May 6, 1918, the treaty between Romania and
the Central Powers

GeographyBucharest is situated on the banks of the Dâmboviţa
River, which flows into the Argeş River, a tributary of
the Danube. Several lakes – the most important of which
are Lake Floreasca, Lake Tei and Lake Colentina –
stretch across the city, along the Colentina River, a
tributary of the Dâmboviţa. In addition, in the centre
of the capital there is a small artificial lake – Lake
Cişmigiu – surrounded by the Cişmigiu Gardens. The
Cişmigiu Gardens have a rich history, being frequented
by famous poets and writers. Opened in 1847 and based on
the plans of German architect Carl F.W. Meyer, the
gardens are currently the main recreational facility in
the city centre.

Besides Cişmigiu, Bucharest contains several other large
parks and gardens, including Herăstrău Park and the
Botanical Garden. Herăstrău is a large public park
located in the north of the city, and the site of the
Village Museum, while the Bucharest's botanical garden
is the largest in Romania and contains over 10,000
species of plants, many of them exotic; it was once a
pleasure park for the royal family.[8]

Bucharest is situated in the south eastern corner of the
Romanian Plain, in an area once covered by the Vlăsiei
forest, which, after it was cleared, gave way to a
fertile flatland. As with many cities, Bucharest is
traditionally considered to have seven hills, in the
tradition of the seven hills of Rome. Bucharest's seven
hills are: Mihai Vodă, Dealul Mitropoliei, Radu Vodă,
Cotroceni, Spirei, Văcăreşti and Sf. Gheorghe Nou.

The city has a total area of 226 square kilometres (87
sq mi). The altitude varies from 55.8 metres (183.1 ft)
at the Dâmboviţa bridge in Căţelu, south-eastern
Bucharest and 91.5 m (300.2 ft) at the Militari church.
The city has a relatively round shape, with the centre
situated approximately in the cross-way of the main
north-south/east-west axes at the University Square. The
milestone for Romanian's Kilometre Zero is placed just
south of University Square in front of the New St.
George Church (Sfântul Gheorghe Nou) at St. George
Square (Piaţa Sfântul Gheorghe). Bucharest's radius,
from University Square to the city limits in all
directions, varies from about 10 to 12 km (6.25–7.5 mi).

Until recently, the regions surrounding Bucharest were
largely rural, but after 1989, new suburbs started to be
built around Bucharest, in the surrounding Ilfov county.
Further urban consolidation is expected to take place
when the Bucharest metropolitan area is formed in 2006,
which will incorporate various communes and cities of
Ilfov and surrounding counties.

Climate
Bucharest has a temperate continental climate. Due to
its position on the Romanian Plain, the city's winters
can get windy, even though some of the winds are
mitigated due to urbanisation. Winter temperatures are
often below 0 °C (32 °F), even though they rarely drop
below −10 °C (14 °F). In summer, the average temperature
is approximately 23 °C (73 °F) (the average for July and
August), despite the fact that temperatures many times
reach 35 °C (95 °F) to 40 °C (104 °F) in mid-summer in
the city centre. Although average precipitation and
humidity during summer is low, there are infrequent yet
heavy and often violent storms. During spring and
autumn, temperatures vary between 18 °C (64 °F) to 22 °C
(72 °F), and precipitation during this time tends to be
higher than in summer, with more frequent yet milder
periods of rain.

Bucharest has a unique status in Romanian
administration, since it is the only municipality that
is not part of a county. Its population, however, is
larger than that of any Romanian county, and hence the
power of the Bucharest General City Hall (Primăria
Generală), which is the city's local government body, is
about the same as, if not greater than, that of Romanian
county councils.

The city government is headed by a General Mayor (Primar
General), currently (as of 2008) Sorin Oprescu.
Decisions are approved and discussed by the General
Council (Consiliu General) made up of 55 elected
councillors. Furthermore, the city is divided into six
administrative sectors (sectoare), each of which has
their own 27-seat sectorial council, town hall and
mayor. The powers of local government over a certain
area are therefore shared by the Bucharest City Hall and
the local sectorial councils with little or no
overlapping of authority. The general rule is that the
main City Hall is responsible for citywide utilities
such as the water system, the transport system and the
main boulevards, while sectorial town halls manage the
contact between individuals and the local government,
secondary streets, parks, schools and cleaning services.

The Municipality of Bucharest, along with the
surrounding Ilfov county, forms the Bucharest
development region, which is equivalent to NUTS-II
regions in the European Union and is used by the
European Union and the Romanian Government for
statistical analysis and regional development. The
Bucharest development region is not, however, an
administrative entity.

Public Transport

Bucharest's extensive public transport system is the
largest in Romania and one of the largest in Europe. It
is made up of the Bucharest Metro, as well as a surface
transport system run by RATB (Regia Autonomă de
Transport Bucureşti), which consists of buses, trams,
trolleybuses, trams and light rail. In addition, there
is a private minibus system. The metro and the surface
transport system — used to be run by two separate
state-owned corporations but have been merged in early
2007 to form the Bucharest Metropolitan Transport
Authority. As of 2007, there is a limit of 10,000
taxicab licences [21], down from 25,000 in the 1990s,
and the even higher demand is supplied by taxis
registered in Ilfov county.

Air
The city is served by two airports: Henri Coandă
International Airport (formerly Otopeni) and Aurel
Vlaicu International Airport (formerly Băneasa). Henri
Coandă is the largest airport in Romania with 5 million
passengers in 2007 and the main hub for the national
operator TAROM. Delta Air Lines serves Bucharest
directly from JFK. It is also connected to several
international airports by a wide range of international
airlines. The smaller Aurel Vlaicu International Airport
is used for charter flights and low-cost carriers.

Railways
Bucharest is the hub of Romania's national railway
network, run by Căile Ferate Române. The main railway
station is Gara de Nord, or North Station, which
provides connections to all major cities in Romania as
well as international destinations such as Belgrade,
Budapest, Sofia, Vienna, Prague, Moscow, Istanbul,
Chişinău, and many other European cities. The city also
has five other railway stations run by CFR, most
important are Basarab (in proximity of North Station),
Obor, Baneasa, Progresu, which are in the process of
being integrated in a commuter railway serving Bucharest
and the surrounding Ilfov county.From the Bucharest
depart 7 main line.

Infrastructure
The city's municipal road network is centred around a
series of high-capacity boulevards, which generally
radiate out from the city centre to the outskirts. The
main axes, which run north-south, east-west and
northwest-southeast, as well as one internal and one
external ring road, support the bulk of the traffic. The
city's roads are usually very crowded during rush hours,
due to an increase in car ownership in recent years.
Every day, there are more than one million vehicles
travelling within the city.[22] This has resulted in
wear and potholes appearing on many Bucharest roads,
particularly secondary roads, this being identified as
one of Bucharest's main infrastructural problems. In
recent years, there has been a comprehensive effort on
behalf of the City Hall to boost road infrastructure and
according to the general development plan, nearly 2000
roads are expected to be repaired by 2008.[23]

Roads
Bucharest is also a major intersection of Romania's
national road network. A few of the busiest national
roads and motorways, link the city to all of Romania's
major cities as well as to neighbouring countries such
as Hungary, Bulgaria and Ukraine. The A1 to Pitesti and
the A2, in Romanian "Autostrada Soarelui" to the
Dobrogea region and Constanta both start from Bucharest.
The planned A3 and A4 motorways will radiate from
Voluntari, a town in the city's northern outskirts.

Water
Although it is situated on the banks of a river,
Bucharest has never functioned as a port city, with
other Romanian cities such as Constanţa and Galati
acting as the country's main ports. However, the
Danube-Bucharest Canal, which is 73 km (45 mi) long, is
currently in construction and is around 60%
completed.[citation needed] When finished, the canal
will link Bucharest to the Danube River and, via the
Danube-Black Sea Canal, to the Black Sea. This corridor
is expected to be a significant component of the city's
transport infrastructure and increase sea traffic by a
large margin.

CultureBucharest has a diverse and growing cultural scene,
with cultural life exhibited in a number of various
fields, including the visual arts, performing arts and
nightlife. Unlike other parts of Romania, such as the
Black Sea coast or Transylvania, Bucharest's cultural
scene is much more eclectic, without a defined style,
and instead incorporates various elements of Romanian
and international culture. Bucharest has an eclectic
mixture of elements from traditionally Romanian
buildings to buildings that are influenced by French
architects. It is because of this French influence that
Bucharest was once called "the Paris of the East" or
"Little Paris."

Landmarks
Bucharest has a number of landmark buildings and
monuments. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the
Palace of the Parliament, built in the 1980s during the
reign of Communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu. Currently
the largest building in Europe and the second-largest in
the world, the Palace houses the Romanian Parliament
(the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate), as well as the
National Museum of Contemporary Art. The building also
boasts one of the largest convention centres in the
world.

Another well-known landmark in Bucharest is Arcul de
Triumf (The Triumphal Arch), it was built in its current
form in 1935 and modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in
Paris. A newer landmark of the city is the Memorial of
Rebirth, a stylized marble pillar unveiled in 2005 to
commemorate the victims of the Romanian Revolution of
1989, which overthrew Communism. The abstract monument
sparked a great deal of controversy when it was
unveiled, being dubbed with names such as "the olive in
the toothpick", ("măslina-n scobitoare"), as many argued
that it does not fit in its surroundings and believed
that its choice was based on political reasons.[24]

The Romanian Athenaeum building is considered to be a
symbol of Romanian culture and since 2007 is on the list
of the Label of European Heritage sights.[25]

Other cultural venues include the National Museum of
Art, Museum of Natural History "Grigore Antipa", Museum
of the Romanian Peasant (Muzeul Ţăranului Român),
National History Museum, and the Military Museum.

Visual artsIn terms of visual arts, the city contains a number
of museums featuring both classical and contemporary
Romanian art, as well as selected international works.
The National Museum of Art of Romania is perhaps the
best-known of Bucharest museums. It is located in the
former royal palace and features extensive collections
of medieval and modern Romanian art, including works by
renowned sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi, as well as a
prominent international collection assembled by the
former Romanian royal family.

Other, smaller museums, contain more specialised
collections of works. The Zambaccian Museum, which is
situated in the former home of Armenian-Romanian art
collector Krikor H. Zambaccian contains works by many
well-known Romanian artists as well as international
artists such as Paul Cézanne, Eugčne Delacroix, Henri
Matisse, Camille Pissarro and Pablo Picasso.

The Gheorghe Tattarescu Museum contains portraits of
Romanian revolutionaries in exile such as Gheorghe
Magheru, Ştefan Golescu, Nicolae Bălcescu and
allegorical compositions with revolutionary (Romania's
rebirth, 1849) and patriotic (The Principalities'
Unification, 1857) themes. The Theodor Pallady Museum is
situated in one of the oldest surviving merchant houses
in Bucharest and includes many works by Romanian painter
Theodor Pallady as well as a number of European and
Oriental furniture pieces. The Museum of Art Collections
contains the collections of a number of well-known
Romanian art aficionados, including Krikor Zambaccian
and Theodor Pallady.

Despite the extensive classical art galleries and
museums in the city, there is also a contemporary arts
scene that has become increasingly prominent in recent
times. The National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC),
situated in a wing of the Palace of the Parliament, was
opened in 2004 and contains a widespread collection of
Romanian and international contemporary art, in a number
of expressive forms. The MNAC also manages the Kalinderu
MediaLab, which caters specifically to multimedia and
experimental art. There is also a range of smaller,
private art galleries throughout the city centre.

Performing artsPerforming arts are one of the strongest cultural
elements of Bucharest, and the city has a number of
world-renowned facilities and institutions. The most
prominent is the neoclassical Romanian Athenaeum, which
was founded in 1852, hosts classical music concerts, the
George Enescu Festival, and is home to the "George
Enescu" Philharmonic. Bucharest is also home to the
Romanian National Opera, as well as the I.L. Caragiale
National Theatre. Another well-known theatre in
Bucharest is the State Jewish Theatre, which has gained
increasing prominence in recent years due partly to the
fact that it features plays starring world-renowned
Romanian-Jewish actress Maia Morgenstern. There is also
a large number of smaller theatres throughout the city
that cater to specific genres, such as the Comedy
Theatre, the Nottara Theatre, the Bulandra Theatre, the
Odeon Theatre, and the Constantin Tănase Revue Theatre.

Music and nightlifeBucharest is home to Romania's largest recording
labels, and is often the residence of Romanian
musicians. The city's music scene is quite eclectic.
Many Romanian rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s, such as
Iris and Holograf, continue to be popular, particularly
with the middle-aged, while since the 1990s there has
been growth in the boy band and hip hop genres. The
eclectic pop-rock band Taxi have been gaining
international respect, as has Spitalul de Urgenţă's
raucous updating of traditional Romanian music. While
many discos play manele, a Turkish-influenced type of
music that is particularly popular in Bucharest's
working class districts, the city has an increasing jazz
and blues scene, and, to an extent, eurodance/trance and
heavy metal/punk. Bucharest's jazz profile has
especially risen since 2002, with the presence of two
thriving venues, Green Hours and Art Jazz, as well as an
American presence alongside established Romanians. The
city's nightlife, particularly its club scene grew
significantly in the 1990s, and continues to increase.
The city does not have a central nightlife strip, with
many entertainment venues dispersed throughout the city
centre, with a cluster in the historical centre. One of
the city's best known clubs is the Lăptăria Enache and
the La Motoare, located above (on the rooftop of) the
National Theatre, as well as[citation needed] Fire Club
and Club A. Most clubs and bars are located around the
center of the city, from the Piaţa Unirii to Piaţa
Romană. Also, a large concentration of rock clubs can be
found in the Lipscani area, the old part of the city, in
the vicinity of Piata Unirii. Another popular venue,
especially among students from the Politehnica
University campus, is Club Maxx, located on Splaiul
Independentei No. 290.

The city also hosts some of the best electronic/house
music clubs in Europe such as Bamboo and Kristal Glam
Club. During the summer, Zoom Beach Club is an outdoor
club on the shore of a lake and has two separate dance
floors. The Office is one of the most exclusive clubs in
Bucharest and has a long tradition in clubbing. One of
the best cocktail clubs is Deja Vu situated on Balcescu
Boulevard Near the Italian church. Other clubs are:
Gaia, Fratelli, Glamour, Tipsy, Cotton Club, Pat, Studio
Martin and Embryo.

Traditional cultureBucharest's cultural life has, especially since the
early 1990s, become colourful and worldly. Traditional
Romanian culture, however, continues to have a major
influence in arts such as theatre, film and music.
Additionally, Bucharest has two internationally-renowned
ethnographic museums, the Museum of the Romanian Peasant
and the open-air Village Museum. The Village Museum, in
Herăstrău Park, contains 272 authentic buildings and
peasant farms from all over Romania. The Museum of the
Romanian Peasant was declared the European Museum of the
Year in 1996, and displays a rich collection of textiles
(especially costumes), icons, ceramics, and other
artifacts of Romanian peasant life.

The Museum of Romanian History is another important
museum in Bucharest, containing a collection of
artefacts detailing Romanian history and culture from
the prehistoric times, Dacian era, medieval times and
the modern era.

Cultural events and festivalsThere are a number of cultural festivals in
Bucharest throughout the year, in various domains, even
though most festivals take place in the summer months of
June, July and August. The National Opera organises the
International Opera Festival every year in May and June,
which includes ensembles and orchestras from all over
the world. The Romanian Athaeneum Society hosts the
George Enescu Classical Music Festival at various
locations throughout the city in September every year.
Additionally, the Museum of the Romanian Peasant and the
Village Museum organise a number of events throughout
the year showcasing Romanian folk arts and crafts.

In the 2000s, due to the growing prominence of the
Chinese community in Bucharest, several Chinese cultural
events have taken place. The first officially-organised
Chinese festival was the Chinese New Year's Eve Festival
of February 2005 which took place in Nichita Stănescu
Park and was organised by the Bucharest City Hall.[26]
In 2005, Bucharest was the first city in Southeastern
Europe to host the international CowParade, which
resulted in dozens of decorated cow sculptures being
placed at various points across the city.

Since 2005 Bucharest has its own contemporary art
biennale, the Bucharest Biennale. The current (2006)
issue (curated by Zsolt Pétranyi) will go on until the
end of June, the next edition will be in 2008.

The 2000s also saw an increasing visibility of Bucharest
gay culture, with the opening of the Queen's Club, the
first LGBT club in the city, in 2001, and the launch of
the annual Bucharest GayFest in 2004. The city's first
gay pride parade was held as part of the 2005 GayFest.

ArchitectureBucharest's architecture is highly eclectic due to
the many influences on the city throughout its history.
The city centre is a mixture of medieval, neoclassical
and art nouveau buildings, as well as 'neo-Romanian'
buildings dating from the beginning of the 20th century
and a remarkable collection of modern buildings from the
30s and 40s. The mostly-utilitarian Communist-era
architecture dominates most neighborhoods. Recently
built contemporary structures such as skyscrapers and
office buildings complete the landscape.

Historical architectureOf the city's medieval architecture, most of what
survived into modern times was destroyed by the
Communists and replaced by high-rise apartment blocks.
Still, some historical precincts remain, the most
notable of which is the Lipscani area. This precinct
contains buildings such as Manuc's Inn and the ruins of
the Curtea Veche (the Old Court of the King), and during
the Middle Ages was the heart of Bucharest's commercial
world. From the 1970s onwards, the area went through
urban decline, and many historical buildings fell into
disrepair. In 2005, the Lipscani area was entirely
pedestrianised and is currently undergoing restoration.

The city centre has also retained architecture from the
late 19th century and early 20th century, particularly
the interwar period, which is often seen as the "golden
age" of Bucharest architecture. During this time, the
city grew significantly in size and sought to emulate
other large European capitals such as Paris. Much of the
architecture of the time belongs to a remarkably strong
Modern (rationalist) Architecture current, led by Horia
Creanga and Marcel Iancu, which managed to literally
change the face of the city. Two notable buildings from
this time are the Creţulescu Palace, currently housing
cultural institutions including UNESCO's European Centre
for Higher Education, and the Cotroceni Palace, the
current residence of the Romanian President. Many
large-scale constructions such as Gara de Nord, the main
railway station, and the National Bank of Romania's
headquarters, date from these times. In the 2000s, a
wide variety of historic buildings in the city centre
underwent restoration. In some residential areas of the
city, particularly the high-income northern suburbs,
there are many turn-of-the-century villas, most of which
were restored after 2000.

Communist architecture
The headquarters of the Romanian Architects Association,
symbolically built on the ruins of the Direcţia V
SecuritateA major part of Bucharest's architecture is
made up of buildings constructed during the Communist
era replacing the historical architecture with "more
efficient" high density apartment blocks - one-fifth of
the city was demolished only for constructing the third
largest building in the world: Casa Poporului - Palace
of the Parliament. In Nicolae Ceauşescu's project of
systematization many new buildings were built in
previously-historical areas, which were razed and then
built upon from scratch. One of the best examples of
this type of architecture is Centrul Civic, a
development that replaced a major part of Bucharest's
historic city centre with giant utilitarian buildings,
mainly with marble or travertine façades, inspired by
North Korean architecture. Communist-era architecture
can also be found in Bucharest's residential districts,
mainly in blocuri, which are high-density apartment
blocks that house the majority of the city's population.

Since the fall of Communism in 1989, several
Communist-era buildings have been refurbished,
modernised and used for other purposes. Perhaps the best
example of this is the conversion of several
agro-alimentary complexes into shopping malls and
commercial centres. These giant circular halls, which
were most often known as hunger circuses due to the food
shortages experienced in the 1980s, were constructed
during the Ceauşescu era to act as produce markets and
refectories, although most were left unfinished at the
time of the Revolution. Modern shopping malls like
Bucharest Mall, Plaza Romania and City Mall emerged on
pre-existent structures of former hunger circuses.
Another example is the modernisation and conversion of a
large utilitarian construction in Centrul Civic into a
Marriott Hotel. This process was accelerated after 2000,
when the city underwent a property boom, and many
Communist-era buildings in the city centre became prime
real estate due to their location. In recent years, many
Communist-era apartment blocks have also been
refurbished to improve the city's urban appearance.

Contemporary architecture
The newest contribution to Bucharest's architecture took
place after the fall of Communism, and particularly
after 2000, when the city went through a period of urban
renewal – and architectural revitalization – on the back
of Romania's economic boom. Buildings from this time are
mostly made out of glass and steel, and often have more
than fifteen storeys. Examples include shopping malls
(particularly the Bucharest Mall, a conversion and
extension of an abandoned building), office buildings,
bank headquarters, the Bucharest World Trade Center and
the Chamber of Commerce, which lies on the banks of the
Dâmboviţa. As of 2005, there is a significant number of
office buildings in construction, particularly in the
northern and eastern parts of the city. Additionally,
there has been a trend in recent years to add modern
wings and façades to historic buildings, the most
prominent example of which is the Bucharest Architects'
Association Building, which is a modern glass-and-steel
construction built inside a historic stone façade. Aside
from buildings used for business and institutions,
various new residential developments are currently
underway, many of which consist of modern high-rise
buildings with a glass exterior, surrounded by
American-style residential communities. These
developments are increasingly prominent in the northern
suburbs of the city, which are less densely-populated
and are home to middle- and upper-class Bucharesters due
to the process of gentrification.

Media
Bucharest is the most important centre for Romanian mass
media, since it is the headquarters of all the national
television networks as well as national newspapers and
radio stations. The largest daily newspapers in
Bucharest include Evenimentul Zilei, Jurnalul Naţional,
Cotidianul, România Liberă, Adevărul, Gardianul and
Gândul. During the rush hours, tabloid newspapers
Libertatea and Ziarul are very popular for commuters.

A significant number of newspapers and media
publications are based in Casa Presei Libere (The House
of the Free Press) a landmark of northern Bucharest,
originally named Casa Scânteii after the Communist-era
official newspaper Scînteia. Casa Presei Libere is not
the only Bucharest landmark that grew out of the media
and communications industry. Palatul Telefoanelor ("the
telephone palace") was the first major modernist
building on Calea Victoriei in the city's center, and
the massive, unfinished communist-era Casa Radio looms
over a park a block away from the Opera.

English-language media became available in Bucharest in
the 1990s, and has become increasingly prominent since
2000. There are two daily English-language newspapers,
Bucharest Daily News and Nine O' Clock, as well as
numerous other magazines. A number of publications in
other languages are also available, such as the
Hungarian-language daily Új Magyar Szó.

Observator Cultural covers the city's arts, and the free
weekly Şapte Seri ("Seven Evenings") and B24FUN lists
entertainments of all sorts. The city is also home to
the intellectual journal Dilema and the satire magazine
Academia Caţavencu, as well as the usual array of
commercial magazines one would find in any European
capital.

Bucharest was the host city of the fourth edition of the
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006.